A few years ago, I read an article about what women would do if men had a 9pm curfew and I remember being shocked by the almost comical simplicity of their answers. Some said they would walk in peace; others said they could go dancing till late; a few even spoke about leaving their drink unattended at a bar.
It’s funny because as you go about your day-to-day life, you never think how much of it is being controlled by how genders have been socialised and the fears you’ve collected over the years, like unwanted wedding souvenirs. And, yet, with each new bad, sad thing that happens to you or someone you know, your world becomes smaller and scarier. And that fear becomes slightly more reinforced when you feel that even your country’s law courts fail to take your pain seriously.
A few days ago, a mini-bus driver was handed an 11-year sentence for raping an eight-year-old girl several times 16 years ago. Yes, you read that right: the now 24-year-old woman had to stand before her rapist and testify about something that happened to her almost 20 years ago. In the last two decades, she’s had enough time to finish both primary and secondary school; she’s even had time to read for a university degree, get married and have children of her own.
Her life had time to unfold and take shape while the man who committed atrocities against her eight-year-old self was out there, somewhere, living his life. Sixteen years of waiting and then we wail about people not sharing their stories.
To say our archaic laws need a revamp would be the understatement of the century- Anna Marie Galea
Who would willingly allow their life to be taken hostage for so long to obtain the bare minimum? Does no one see what kind of message the courts send out when it takes so long for justice to be done? This isn’t a civil dispute over a patch of land: we are talking about someone’s life being irrevocably changed. As for the perpetrator getting a meagre 11 years, the less said about that, the better.
To say our archaic laws need a revamp would be the understatement of the century but even that falls through the cracks when your daily news is filled with an ever-growing list of people being investigated for one thing or another.
I mean, the fact that this judgment was handed out in the same period that the Maltese public found out that a woman was sexually harassed at the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra and was allegedly pressured not to speak out by her superior really tells you everything you need to know about the state the country is in when it comes to women’s rights.
The constant message to take it, not complain, and to not be inconvenient, might as well be enshrined in our constitution. Apparently, we are all meant to be okay with living a life of discomfort and trauma. After all, our mothers and grandmothers did it, so why shouldn’t we?
In a world where women were valued, the real question would be: Why should we keep setting ourselves on fire to keep someone else’s ego warm? But since we don’t seem to be anywhere near that, I’ll settle for telling everyone that women don’t need to “lighten up”; they need to be left alone.